ALBANY undefined New York’s violent crimes increased 2.3 percent statewide to more than 79,000 last year despite a steep drop in New York City murders.

State data on serious property and violent crimes still show an overall 13 percent decade-long decline to about 450,000 last year. That reflects fewer crimes in all categories, led by a 62 percent drop in stolen vehicles, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

“There’s all kinds of things you could point to and say maybe they make a difference, but I think it’s hard with any certainty to say,” Michael Green, ex-prosecutor and DCJS executive deputy commissioner, said of the plummeting homicide rate. They arguably include police anti-gang strategies, the city database for tracking guns and programs providing alternatives to jail, he said.

While the city’s murders declined almost 19 percent to 419 in 2012, the fewest recorded in decades, aggravated assaults, robberies and forcible rapes all rose slightly to nearly 53,000 violent crimes, up 3.5 percent from 2011, and about two-thirds of the statewide total.

For the rest of the state, violent crimes were nearly flat at about 26,000 last year, with declines in forcible rapes and robberies, an uptick in aggravated assaults and 265 murders, a 4 percent increase.

New York City police reports this year show a continuing drop in murders to 166 through the first week of July, down 27 percent from last year, with a 9 percent decline in robberies, a 2 percent increase in rapes and a 1 percent uptick in felony assaults. The report noted 526 shooting incidents with 614 victims, both numbers down more than 27 percent from a year earlier.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking this month at police graduation ceremonies, said the city last year set a record low for both murders and shootings and was on pace to break both records this year.

By sending two reputed Latin Kings street gang members to prison for more than 58 years for a botched murder attempt, the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office says it hopes a message was sent to other criminal enterprises operating inside county lines.

Justin Alfonso, 18, and Irving Negron, 22, were sentenced Monday for attempting to kill two fellow members in March 2012 in retaliation for stealing money and disrespecting the group, known as the Mohawk Warrior Tribe.

In June, a jury found Alfonso, Negron and three others guilty on all counts, including conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder.

“These are dangerous men,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Weishaupt said. “By sending them to prison, until late in their lives, we significantly reduce that danger.”

Alfonso, who prosecutors said shot both victims inside a Rip Van Winkle Apartments unit in the City of Poughkeepsie with a stolen .45-caliber handgun, was sentenced to 592⁄3 to 79 years in state prison and 10 years post-release supervision. He was ordered to pay $750 in fines.

Negron was sentenced to 581⁄3 to 75 years in prison and 10 years post-release supervision. He, too, was ordered to pay $750 in fines.

Alfonso and Negron were convicted of second-degree conspiracy, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree gang assault and two counts of first-degree attempted assault, all felonies. Alfonso also was convicted of fourth-degree grand larceny for stealing the gun.

Prosecutors said he was ordered to kill the victims by the group’s Dutchess County leadership, Timothy “King Tiny” Ramirez, 22, and 43-year-old John “King Whiteblood” Rizzo of Hyde Park, who were both convicted during the trial.

In court, Alfonso was expressionless. When Dutchess County Court Judge Stephen Greller asked him if he would like to make a statement on his behalf, Alfonso replied, “No, sir.”

Greller said: “Your gang, its values, are over. And this community will be safe from, in my opinion, a sociopath killer.”

Greller said he had listened to phone calls Alfonso made, and read letters Alfonso wrote, where he bragged about the incident. Alfonso is alleged to have written that everyone was going to know his name after the attack.

Alfonso’s attorney Bruce Petito said he believes the sentence was excessive.

“Obviously we’ll be appealing that sentence,” Petito said. “The Appellate Division will decide if it was a fair verdict or if it was an excessive sentence imposed on a boy who was 17 (years old) when he committed the crime.”

The prosecution said Negron rushed into the apartment after Alfonso shot Ruben Rivera, 21, in the face and stabbed him. Kymberle Perez-Colon, 21, was shot in the upper chest. Both survived.

On his way out, Negron held the door open for police officers, responding to the attack, evidence showed.

Cynthia Kasnia, Negron’s attorney, said her client has maintained his innocence and also plans to appeal the court’s decision.

Rizzo and the fifth man convicted in the attack, Paul Sellers, 19, of the City of Poughkeepsie, are to be sentenced this week. Ramirez is to be sentenced in August.

Negron lives in the Town of Poughkeepsie. A residence was not provided for Alfonso.

New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance indicted 63 gang members involved in murders, shootings, assaults, firearms possessions and gun trafficking.
Lawyers.com videojournalist Ed Alpern reports that police busted members in some of the city’s most violent street gangs by monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.

New York City veteran criminal defense attorney, H. Hershel Katz, pointed out that the defendants were from low income projects. He described them as “kids whose life expectancies to them is tomorrow.” Hershel warned that the cops’ investigative techniques may sound like a sexy, interesting way of getting bad guys and guns off the streets. However, their actions raise troubling question about privacy in the digital age that also affects the law abiding, general public.

Do you give up your right to and expectation of privacy when you use social media to communicate?

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 and Title 2 of that act, the Stored Communication Privacy Act address privacy of email and electronic communications. But social media as it exists today was not around when these laws were drafted. Hershel says this creates grey areas that tilt the scale of justice toward prosecution.

In the old days, police needed a search warrant to access certain information. But now communications on social media are fair game. Facebook even has a policy stating it will work with law enforcement, and may disclose information pursuant to subpoenas, court orders or other criminal or civil requirements.

However, Hershel does not think people have simply surrendered their privacy rights by logging on, or posting a status update. He believes common law, statutory, legislative and constitutional rights still protect our privacy and freedom from unwarranted search and seizure undefined even in the age of social media.

It's out with the gangs and in with the games at a Morrisania playground.

A seven-week summer program at the Mott Playground is being funded by money forfeited during gang busts conducted by the NYPD using social media.

“It’s the one good thing that the drug dealers can contribute to the community,” said Bridget Brennan, the city's Special Narcotics Prosecutor. “We take their money and put it right back into fun things like this.”

The playground will participate in a Police Athletic League program that sets up basketball tournaments, table games, and other creative activities.

A joint effort conducted by the 44th Precinct and Brennan's office has taken down 41 gang members in the Morrisania area since 2011.

RELATED: GANG SHOT 14 RIVALS TO AVENGE MEMBER'S MURDER

Last year, members of “Dub City” and “WTG” gangs were picked up and prosecuted after investigators began tracking their violent acts through online sites such as Facebook and YouTube.

Brennan said the gangs were using social media as a tool for recruitment as well as a forum to taunt rivals.

NYPD

Money confiscated from the 6 Wild gang during a raid in June conducted by the NYPD and Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. Funds from similar seizures are being used to fund the PAL progam.

“There was a lot of bluster, a lot of bragging about money,” the prosecutor said. “Lots of pictures of big hordes of cash and talking about how much money they were scoring. And that was used to attract young people to the gang.”

Murders and shootings in the precinct have been cut in half over the last two years, and the 44th Precinct commander believes the takedowns had a big role.

“When you’re able to extract almost 40 of the worst people in your command it has a tremendous impact on the quality of life,” said Insp. Kevin Catalina.

RELATED: COPS BUST 10 BX. GANGSTERS INVOLVED IN DEADLY TURF WAR

Last month, 11 members of a violent crew “6 Wild” were indicted in connection with a series of home invasions.

The crew, which operated in the area around Mott Playground, posted photos of large amounts of cash and other stolen items.

About 50 kids waited patiently until the ribbon was formally cut on Wednesday morning, then enjoyed knock-hockey, Connect Four and basketball.

Jeremy Casso, an 11-year-old from Morrisania, not only enjoyed the games, but absorbed a larger message

“What (the cops) do makes kids like me want to do good things,” he said. “I want to be a criminal prosecutor because I want to help families that have been through something bad or dealt with something bad.”

A Bloods gang member was sentenced Wednesday to 112 years in prison for his role in a large-scale narcotics pipeline that moved heroin and cocaine throughout the Capital Region.

Michael "Jigga" Williams, 28, of Albany, was convicted of 17 felony counts on May 21 following the longest trial in the history of Albany County.

The gang member undefined who blasted an investigator as a "coward" and "devil" following his conviction undefined was found guilty alongside two co-defendants in the 13-week trial before Judge Stephen Herrick. A fourth defendant was acquitted on most charges; jurors could not reach a verdict on the rest.

Williams was found guilty of counts that included conspiracy and drug dealing. He was involved in the selling of heroin and cocaine, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office, which prosecuted the case.

The three convictions concluded a 2012 case Schneiderman's office brought against 52 defendants, including reputed members of the Bloods and the South End-based Original Gangsta Killas street gang.

Most defendants cut plea bargains with prosecutors before their cases went to trial. And Herrick dismissed charges against two defendants who went to trial undefined Anthony Taylor of Albany and Richard Collier of Glens Falls undefined following arguments by their lawyers.

In addition to Williams, jurors convicted Guy "Sos" Anderson of Cohoes, a supplier of the cocaine and heroin, of 17 drug-dealing related counts. That including being a major trafficker, which alone carries a life sentence. Also found guilty was OGK gang member Jamel "Melly Mel" Pearson of Albany, who was convicted of 11 drug-dealing counts.

Pearson, like Williams, is a persistent felony offender, which makes him eligible for a life sentence.

The jury acquitted Marquese "Man Man" Johnson, who authorities said has been an OGK member, of every charge that ended in a verdict. Schneiderman's office could retry him on undecided charges.

Schneiderman's office noted in a news release Wednesday that the overall drug ring "distributed massive quantities of cocaine, heroin and various illegal prescription medications, including hydrocodone, oxycodone and Percocet" from New York City to areas that included Albany, Renssealer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, Greene, Ulster, Orange and Rockland counties, as well as Vermont.

The case followed an 18-month investigation by Schneiderman's Organized Crime Task Force and Albany and State Police, among other agencies. It was prosecuted by Assistant Deputy Attorney General Michael Sharpe.

NEW YORK (AP) - A coalition that includes children's advocates, law enforcers and lawmakers is hoping to change the way juvenile offenders are handled by New York's criminal justice system.

The group is launching a public information campaign dubbed "Raise the Age."

About 40,000 to 50,000 teens, ages 16 and 17, are arrested and prosecuted annually in the state. By law, they're automatically treated as adults.

Currently New York and North Carolina are the only two states nationally that by statute cut off the juvenile justice age at 15.

The head of the Citizens' Committee for Children of New York says research shows the brains of 16-year-olds haven't fully formed. Jennifer March-Joly says that includes the part that controls decision making.

A 20-year-old man was arrested on Sunday in connection with a gang-related shooting that killed an 18-year-old man and critically injured a 13-year-old boy near an annual Brooklyn basketball tournament, New York City police said.

A law-enforcement official said police were preparing charges on Sunday night against the suspect in the Saturday night shooting. Mario Lopez, 18, was fatally shot around 6:35 p.m. as he sat on a stoop at 472 Marcy Ave. in the Marcy Houses, a city housing project, with three friends, ages 13, 14 and 15, police said. Police hadn't released their names as of Sunday night.

The 13-year-old victim was shot in the neck and was in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital, authorities said. The 14- and 15-year-old victims were in stable condition at area hospitals.

Police recovered nine shell casings.

The incident was the latest in a string of shootings that injured or killed very young victims in the past two months.

The four victims are believed to be part of a street gang known as the Young Slackers, or YS, that operates in Brooklyn, a law-enforcement official said. The shooter is a known member of the nearby Tompkins Get Money, or TGM, street gang, the official said.

Investigators were trying to determine whether an ongoing clash between the two gangs led to the shooting, the official said.

Police found the suspect after he was identified from a "set book," a collection of mug shots of known gang members at the NYPD's 79th Precinct in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the official said.

The suspect wasn't available for comment. It was unclear if he had retained a lawyer.

The shooting occurred near the Marcy on the Rise basketball tournament, which was launched three years ago as a way to the fight back against violence in the neighborhood during the summer heat.

"We've been doing this tournament for three years without incident," said Andre Stephenson, one of the tournament's commissioners. "We save lives with this."

At Mr. Lopez's home in the Bushwick Houses, family members declined to comment.

Livintong Thormes, a neighbor said Mr. Lopez was "always on his bicycle, playing ball with the other kids....He was a normal kid, he didn't bother nobody."

When Saul Santana went looking for revenge, he found it in Anthony “Ace” Colon.

It was the bloody summer of 2009, and Santana, a 10th Street Gang member, was seeking retaliation for the shooting of his cousin, fellow gang member Edwin Rivera.

Santana found Colon, the rival Seventh Street Gang member who shot his cousin, on Ullman Street in Riverside and in broad daylight shot him several times in the back.

Colon died later that day.

“I did that dude dirty,” Santana later told Rivera.

Santana, who also was shot in retaliation a few months later, was sentenced Monday in federal court to 27 years in prison.

His sentencing marks the latest chapter in the 10th Street Gang prosecution, one of the biggest organized-crime cases in Buffalo in decades.

At the heart of the prosecution are five murders, including the slayings of two innocent neighbors caught in crossfire, and the allegation that the defendants acted collectively, as part of a criminal enterprise, to sell drugs and terrorize their West Side neighborhood for nearly a decade.

“I did this to myself,” Santana told U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. “No one else is to blame.”

His mother, weeping in the courtroom, could be heard saying, “I love you.”

“I took the life of another human being,” Santana said, “and that can never be replaced.”

Santana’s defense lawyer acknowledged his client’s role in the war between the 10th and Seventh Street gangs – he was one of the first gang members to be charged in the case – but suggested his actions were the product of a world most people can’t even fathom. It was a world that saw Colon shoot Rivera, Santana shoot Colon, and another Seventh Street Gang member shoot Santana.

“That’s just a microcosm of the case,” said James P. Harrington, Santana’s defense attorney, “but it defines the world these young men were living in.”

Federal prosecutor Joseph M. Tripi agreed but reminded Arcara that Santana’s regret didn’t become evident until after he was charged with Colon’s killing.

“The war between the two gangs heated up, and Mr. Santana was part of that,” Tripi said of that summer on Buffalo’s West Side. “At the time, there was no remorse.”

Santana pleaded guilty last year to taking part in a racketeering conspiracy but, as part of his plea deal, admitted killing Colon on June 26, 2009, in an act of revenge.

“They have a code,” Arcara said. “It’s too bad the culture he was in caused him to do what he did.”

Formed in the late 1980s, the 10th Street Gang dominated the West Side neighborhood bounded by Niagara Street on the west, Richmond Avenue on the east, Auburn Avenue on the north and Carolina Street on the south.

The government’s investigation of the gang resulted in 38 people being charged; many of them have taken plea deals. About 20 reputed gang members still face felony charges, including murder or attempted murder.

The investigation was overseen by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, a coalition that includes Buffalo Police and State Police.

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is levying financial sanctions against six individual leaders of an ultra-violent street gang already designated an international criminal group.

The six men are believed to be among leaders of MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, a sprawling U.S. and Central American street gang most infamous for using machetes to hack and stab victims.

The Treasury Department declared MS-13 a transnational criminal organization last year. It is the first international street gang to be so designated.

The designation is intended to keep the gang from using the U.S. financial system and allows the government to seize what are estimated to be millions of dollars in profits from drug and human smuggling and other crimes.

MS-13 is believed to have begun in Los Angeles in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants eager to protect their own against Mexican and African-American gangs. They quickly grew and have spread across most major American cities and throughout Central America.

In a 2012 statement, the Treasury Department wrote: "MS-13 consists of at least 30,000 members in a range of countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, and is one of the most dangerous and rapidly expanding criminal gangs in the world today. MS-13 is active within the United States, with at least 8,000 members operating in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia. MS-13's criminal nature can be seen in one of its mottos, "Mata, roba, viola, controla" ("Kill, steal, rape, control"). Domestically, the group is involved in multiple crimes including murder, racketeering, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and human trafficking including prostitution. The group frequently carries out violent attacks on opposing gang members, often injuring innocent bystanders. MS-13 members have been responsible for numerous killings within the United States."